Small humor has only one person to please but it is better if there is at least one other. But to abruptly change the topic of discussion by way of semantic turns is both rude and childish. Again...

The NYC Board of Education concocted a list of 50 words not to be used by the company they hired to create achievement tests for their NYC students. Buffalo Shrdlu asked for my source and I gave it to him.

Well, I have this to add: I have been a public school teacher for more than 25 years, I can see pretty easily why those words were "banned" from the achievement tests. I'm not going to make a list, but one only needs to think a little while about each one, and I think understanding might dawn.

Does that make it right? Does that make it wrong? Yes, and yes. And no, and no.

But what it does make it is thoughtful. Knowing that when a child is expected to do well on a test, you don't hit them with a bunch of things which might bother them very much. I think there are plenty of available topics leftover.

And I enjoyed this conversation more when it was about morality, prior to its derailing into the PC quagmire.

Sure. I'd like to add that topics have a tendency to meander from here to there all the time. Nothing rude about it.

But..I would like in discussion subjects that the original topic title would be contained all through the thread. ( no mini discussions in the topic-box). (I've asked for this before because I don't take email notifications, lose the topic this way and after all it reminds us clearly what started the discussion).

Oh, BranShea. I'd like ham and cheese on rye with butter (no mayo), but they just have so many things at my local deli... I never seem to buy that.

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A discussion that went from "morality" to "Pc -vs- nonPC" didn't meander very far... it just went next door to see if that swing set is any more fun!

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It should be easy enough to add a field here to make it "the original thread title" which, created at the beginning, is unchangable... in addition to the "Subject" one we have now. It would require a complete database rebuild... which would probably take this board offline for a few days...

It seems a lot like a topic list for the "Nightly News". I guess those actual words are used, but usually in such a general way. Yet, I suppose the individual experience will be immediately drawn out by the mere mention of those words. There must be some study revealing that experiences with these "descriptives" are so personal so as to be distracting and therefore become "results skewers". The same reason the "Nightly News" wants them *in.

You are right musick, next door is almost the closest from here to there you can get but some threads go all around the block. I don't consider it rude. And what are a few days seen from the perspective of eternity?

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